Karma is a Bitch
by Zuzivlas
Summary: Written for Kink Meme request: The group gets de-aged, only one or two of them don't get infected and have to take care of all of the others. This is going to be mostly light-hearted fun but to be safe, I'm rating it T for some future events. Also, this is gen, probably more movie!verse than book!verse but it should remain fairly neutral.
1. Chapter 1

A/N Written for the Hobbit kink meme on lj which is far too much fun! My second ever Hobbit fic as well, do love falling into new fandoms (well kinda since LOTR has been what got me into fanfiction). Anyway, the moment I read the prompt I knew exactly who would remain adult and why – hence the title. So, without further ado, hope you'll enjoy it!

Disclaimer – I make no claim on any of the characters or places used in this work of fiction, everything belongs to Tolkien and his family a/o the film studio(s) owning the rights. I make no money off of this, nor do I ever plan to make this more than a harmless pastime.

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Of all the things that could have gone wrong during their mission, of all the perils that awaited them, all the monsters they would have to face, this particular hitch in their journey no one could have ever predicted even in their wildest mushroom dreams. Kili and Fili had been sent to watch over their ponies once again while the rest of the group set camp and prepared dinner, eating their portions with much gusto after a long day of travelling. Only one who wasn't eating just yet was Gandalf, opting instead to enjoy a good smoke before the culinary delight to have an excuse to smoke after as well and because he promised to share his meal with the youngest brothers since they were curious about so much the others had no interest in.

The whole company praised Bombur's creation to high heavens and relaxed happily once they were all fed; their lounging around had been the picture of content when Gandalf left in search of the terror twins. The moment he reached them bowls in hands, screams rang from the camp and abandoning the food, all three ran back. What they had found upon their return rendered all of them speechless. Where proud dwarven warriors rested just moments before now lay heaps of clothes draping off of the small pudgy shapes of eleven dwarflets and a hobbitling. Fili and Kili stared mouths agape and even Gandalf couldn't help but look wide-eyed. This wasn't good.

Before they could try and assess the situation fully, a loud wail emitted from one of the dwarflings and was soon followed by majority of the rest pushing Fili straight back into big brother mode when Kili was but a babe, instinct making him run to them without hesitation, doing his best to calm the wee ones down even if he was hopelessly outnumbered. Although less experienced, Kili couldn't just stand there and do nothing when the children were clearly upset and did his best to follow his brother's lead. Gandalf instead thought of what could have caused this and came to the ultimate conclusion that it must have been the food. Warning the brothers by voicing his theory, he quickly went for his horse, jumped on top of its back and rode away with promises that he would do his best to find out what happened and how to reverse it, wishing the two best of luck in babysitting until he returned. In short, he ran far far away as fast as he could before he would be roped into babysitting himself.

Sharing a panicked look, the brothers realized that they were stuck with the situation and would have to wait it out as best they could, at least they had set up camp near a cave which would hopefully protect them from most harm in one of the less dangerous parts of Middle Earth. It had taken them close to an hour to get all the children to calm down and sit with them forming a circle around the fire, an hour in which the *adults_*_, and how simply wrong was it to think of Fili and Kili as the adults of the group, realised a couple of things. All of the dwarves and the hobbit were turned into their races' approximation of 5 year olds no matter their age differences beforehand, they seemed to remember some things from their childhood, those related knew each other at least, and they had no clothes around fit for children, no toys to help occupy them, no food better suited for their sensitive tummies and a big heap of various weapons that would need concealing from curious hands. Fili and Kili were doomed.

Deciding that the ponies would simply have to take care of themselves, the brothers did their best to cut and adjust clothes for the little ones and herd them all into the cave where they lit up another fire and attempted to put the children to sleep, it was late for such small ones already. Easier said than done as Fili knew it would be, shuddering at the thought of how much trouble it used to be to get Kili to sleep as he looked at how many potential Kilis there were. The kids let themselves be put under the cover of spread out bed rolls easily enough but would hear nothing about sleeping. Half demanded good night stories, half demanded to be sung to to sleep and all of them expected the adults to do something.

Shrugging their shoulders at each other, Fili promised to sing them a lullaby while Kili promised to tell them a story if they promised to go to sleep afterwards. Twelve heads nodded enthusiastically and before they knew it, Fili and Kili were covered in cuddly dwarflets and a little hobbit. Kili's tale was captivating, even as a small child Kili preferred to be the one making up the tale than the one having it told to, and many an eyelid fluttered closed before it was over, the rest of them lulled to sleep by Fili's tender voice as he sang one of the lullabies his brother used to favour.

Moving the children back to their original place as gently as possible, not that it was needed since all of them were a dead weight captured in the land of dreams, the brothers sat further away and began strategizing, constantly looking back to check up on their charges.

"Fili, what in Durin's name are we going to do?!"

"Language Kili. And I have no idea, this wasn't exactly part of the plan."

"Well you figure something out, you're the older one!"

"Tsk, all of a sudden I'm the older one eh? Not what you were saying when it had its advantages!"

Bickering for a few more minutes in hushed tones, both deflated and went back to the root of the problem.

"How are we to keep all of them safe? Obviously we can't travel like this."

"Mmm, that's a given. We'll also have to take shifts guarding the entrance, brace yourself for sleepless nights brother."

Kili wasn't completely sure what Fili meant, even with just two of them both would get to sleep for half a night. Fili however knew that even 3 hours of sleep was mere wishful thinking, he remembered only too well that Kili at that age would wake up repeatedly during the night for various reasons.

"Get a head start and go to sleep first Kili, you'll thank me later."

Giving his brother a confused look, for once Kili decided not to argue and rolled out his own sleeping bag and within minutes of lying down fell asleep. Fili sighed and looked outside, this would be a long night he just knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

Fili hated it when he was proven right, especially because it usually happened with his more negative predictions. Kili couldn't have been sleeping for more than an hour when the first dwarflet woke up and shuffled up to Fili. Taking into account the facial features and the hair colour, Fili recognized him as Oin.

"What is it little one?"

"I need to pee."

Not exactly surprising and if he was honest with himself, sort of cute to watch Oin jumping in place, his little chubby legs crossed to presumably delay the inevitable. Standing up at once, Fili took one outstretched hand knowing that if Oin went to him to tell him about the problem, he clearly needed help taking care of it. Leading the child short ways from the cave to some trees where Fili could help him and still keep an eye out on their hideout, business was fast taken care of, after all Oin's little bladder couldn't hold all that much just yet, and soon, Oin was tucked back into the sleeping mass of dwarflings.

This time, the calm barely lasted half an hour when what simply had to be Thorin walked up to him and poked him in his side none too gently. The sour look on his face was probably the cutest thing Fili had ever seen and it took a lot not to burst into chuckles.

"Aye?"

"There is a stone under my bag, it pokes me and it hurts."

"Why don't you take it out of the way then?"

"What are you for?"

Fili didn't have a reply right away, Thorin's tone was far too commanding if not really effective coming from a 5 year old.

"Oh no wee mister, you can do that yourself, I ain't your servant."

If looks could kill, Fili would be found burned to ashes by his brother the next morning but he had grown under the stern if loving hand of Thorin himself and won every staring contest against his brother, he wouldn't flinch away. Sighing, Thorin shuffled back to his bedding in defeat and threw the stone Fili's way. He lacked the strength to hit him but the intent was clear and raising one blond eyebrow, Fili made a mental note to keep a close eye on his uncle. He didn't even have time to call the silence peace before another dwarfling woke up and demanded help with peeing. By the time they got back, Oin was up again and Fili made another trip to the trees suppressing a long suffering sigh.

Oin only barely fell asleep when whimpering could be heard coming from Balin and deciding to solve the problem before it woke *everybody_*_ up, Fili gently shook him and sat down holding an armful of sniffling dwarf that was more of a grandfather to him than anybody else ever could be. Not having the mental energy to contemplate that irony, Fili rocked him back and forth, reassuring the distraught child that it was only a dream, that everything was ok, that Balin was safe. What words didn't solve was finished by another quiet lullaby and soon, Balin was back in the land of dreams.

An hour later that only brought two thirsty dwarves, Fili shook his brother awake to tell him it was his turn to guard and help the little ones. Kili didn't understand at first but before he was fully up, Oin tugged on Fili's pants again and beckoning his younger brother to watch and learn, Fili took one last trip to the trees before his shift was over. When he was finally ready to collapse and sleep, he heard another dwarf walk up to his brother and explain that he needed to poo. Smirking at his brother, his eyes clearly saying "your shift, your problem", Fili snuggled into his bedding to the sounds of Kili's panic. He fell asleep with a smile on his lips.

Promising bitter retribution, Kili braced himself all the while repeating a mantra of "you fought orcs and trolls, you defeated wargs, you killed goblins, you can do this" and taking Bifur's little hand, he led him further into the trees and helped him crouch behind some bushes. He praised himself for doing good so far, that is until Bifur was finished and needed wiping. Kili forgot to bring anything with him for that use and had to improvise, his eyes falling on the nearby coniferous tree.

Fili was woken from his light doze by loud screams and ordering the now woken children to stay in the cave and keep together, he grabbed his swords and ran out of the cave. The sight that greeted him was absolutely pitiful. Tears streaming down his face, Bifur ran to him and hugged him tight, begging to be held as he told him what had happened, his tale often interrupted by loud hiccups. Kili had the decency to look ashamed as Fili threw him a murderous look even Thorin would be proud of and ordered him to go put the others back to sleep as he handed him his swords. Once Kili was out of sight, Fili began reassuring Bifur that everything would be alright and clutching to poor child to him, he trudged back into the cave. So much for catching sleep, he clearly couldn't count on Kili to take care of the kids on his own.

Praying for all of this to be just a terrible dream, Fili set Bifur back down and hoped that tomorrow, everything would be back to normal. He knew it was wishful thinking again as Oin shuffled to Kili with his constant problem. Wondering how his mother had ever managed to do this, he fell into restless sleep Kili occasionally woke him up from for help. At least he had learned his lesson.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Much thanks to everybody who checked the previous chapters out, reviewed, followed, favourited, all of it means the world to me! Love to every single one of you :D Also, this chapter probably gives a whole new meaning to the title considering how the ending usually goes in the fandom... anyway, enjoy!

Side note – disclaimer is now at the beginning of chapter 1, can't believe I forgot it *blushes*

_Pancakes_ – since I can´t send you a message, I´ll reply here. Yeah I know that it would be good to include more individual moments with all of the dwarves and believe me, I have a whole list with their names and at least one thing each one would do to drive Fili and Kili crazy. However I can´t sadly focus too much on each individual as that would mean the adults are not paying much attention to 11 other kids which, yeah, disaster about to happen :P

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Morning came entirely too soon for the already tired dwarves, especially because some of the dwarflings were apparently early risers and demanded attention the moment they rubbed sleep out of their eyes. Kili had attempted to sneak in a couple more minutes of sleep once Fili was fully up but his attempt had been effectively assassinated by little timid Ori who opened Kili's eyes up with his chubby fingers to check if he was still asleep and wouldn't leave his side once he found out Kili wasn't. Well, time to face the first problem of the day.

As expected, the little ones were hungry and since the fruit they managed to gather hastily was barely enough to pull the children through until they had a larger meal, neither brother would risk using any of their food supplies, they would have to go hunt for something. Taking a lesson from Gandalf's book, Kili quickly offered to go catch some rabbits or something and grabbing his bow he practically ran away leaving his brother to the nanny service. Pinching the bridge of his nose to try and suppress the inevitable headache, Fili surveyed the children and mentally counted all of them.

There were Dori and Nori, playing a tug-of-war with one of adult Dori's arm braces, bickering about who saw it first and who it should subsequently belong to, only yelling at each other so far although Fili didn't doubt that they would get into haphazard punches and some biting soon enough. Ori was close to them, sitting on the ground with his knees tucked to his body forming as small a target as possible, Kili had left without him and Ori was afraid. Bifur, Bofur and Bombur were currently engaged in a game Fili had never heard of before but which apparently involved tying fabric over the eyes of one, turning him around a couple of times and then hiding from him while remaining sort of in reach until one of them got caught and had to be blinded in turn. Dwalin and Balin were currently tugging on his pants and wondering if he could show them his swords from last night, Dwalin boasting proudly that one day he'll become a great warrior and kill many orcs and goblins which Balin laughed at making the future fighting machine sniffle and wipe away a few tears.

Bilbo and Thorin occupied themselves by throwing rocks into the forest, Fili had the distinct feeling that Thorin was aiming at a particular tree and imagining it to be Fili himself and had somehow roped the little Hobbit into joining him. Only Oin and Gloin were missing and surveying the camp once more while absentmindedly humming something that would pass for an answer to Dwalin at appropriate moments, he located Oin sitting under a tree, pointing up and laughing. Following the trajectory of his finger, Fili looked up and there on a high and far too thin branch, Gloin sat perched happily like a squirrel that just got some nuts.

"Gloin, come down this instant!"

His voice rang through the clearing loud and clear, such a shame it got ignored by virtually everyone but Ori who curled up even tighter. Stumbling to the brothers, Dwalin practically hanging onto one of his legs while still begging to be allowed to see his swords while Balin teased him for being too weak to lift it, Fili stopped under the tree in question and once again demanded that Gloin come down. He did have a small success in that Gloin at least looked at him this time but the little bugger still refused to get down, especially since he could hear his brother egging him on from the ground. Putting his hands onto his hips in a scarily accurate impression of Dis, Fili gave Gloin a look that broke no argument and subdued, the child made the slow climb down, mumbling about mother hens getting their large noses into business not their own none too quietly.

Feeling victorious enough to let the insults go, Fili forgot that storming after Gloin not only meant he got closer to Thorin but that his back would now be turned to him. Thorin didn't hesitate and with an accuracy most adults could only admire, he let a rock fly. Fili stumbled as something hit him on the back of his head painfully, barely managing to stop the curse wanting to escape his lips around so many impressionable ears. Dwalin yelled loudly that it was a skirmish, and why he would even know that word at his age was something worth contemplating, making Gloin, Oin and Balin join him in running behind the trees for cover.

Fili turned around just in time to dodge another well aimed rock but before he could give Thorin a piece of his mind, Bilbo joined his new found friend and threw one himself. One of the dwarflets yelled out the word war and within seconds, pieces of clothing were flying through the camp as sections of dwarfish children bombarded each other, laughing all the while. Unsurprisingly, the teams were formed by blood relationships, all but the Thorin Bilbo team. Unfortunately for Fili, he had been dubbed the main enemy and had the most projectiles thrown at him and by Durin's beard, he would break Ori's slingshot once he got his hands on it because it was way deadlier than he ever would have expected.

It was like this that Kili found them once he returned with a couple of dead rabbits strung together and although the sounds of the warfare could be heard loud and clear long before he entered camp, the visuals that went with them were unprecedented. His brother was currently lying on the ground with a mountain consisting of clothes, leaves, branches, hobbit and dwarves on top of him, begging for mercy and getting none even if the children roared in victory. Taking a mental picture of the mayhem to keep himself warm during cold and lonely nights, Kili took pity on his brother and announced his presence loudly, promising the little ones some delicious food soon.

Placated by the vision of nourishment and happy about their victory, the dwarflings sat around the fire happily and exchanged stories of great bravery to one another in their quest to slay the vile blond troll. Dori and Nori had an argument about who forced the troll to the ground but for the time being it was only verbal while Dwalin was showing off the stick he was beating Fili's legs with proudly as if it was a famous war tested sword. Kili pretended not to notice as Fili untangled himself from the mess and dusted his clothes as well as possible, mutely joining his brother in skinning the rabbits and cutting off the flesh so it could be cooked into a stew.

However, that would take a while still and since the children were starting to get restless once more, Kili came up with the great idea that they could try and braid each other's hair while they were waiting, a favourite pastime for the majority of dwarfish children throughout history. The offer was met with enthusiasm and quickly the dwarves paired up. Thorin with Bilbo, Dwalin with Balin, Oin with Gloin, Bifur and Bofur both offering to braid Bombur's hair and Dori with Nori since neither wanted anything to do with little Ori. Seeing the tears in the expressive eyes, Kili offered to be his partner which resulted in Ori snuggling up to him with admiration and gratitude. Everybody teamed up, the children began braiding in earnest to varying degrees of success. The brothers made sure to praise each and every one of them for at least something, occasionally offering tips and hints to make it easier and before anybody knew it, the stew was ready to be served.

Eating went down, for the most part, uneventfully even if Kili had to eat left handed because Ori seemed to be glued to his right arm, Bombur complained about the taste and colour of the stew and Bofur managed to get his flute ruined when he couldn't decide what to do first, swallow a mouthful or play. Thorin attempted to smuggle a big bug into Fili's bowl but had been caught red handed and knowing he couldn't push it off anymore, Fili got up with a stern face, grabbed a hold of Thorin and led him away from the camp. There was some struggling, a squeal and then the sound of a palm hitting exposed flesh. Kili stared in shock, surely Fili didn't?! Clearly he did as upon their return, Thorin sat down gingerly and wouldn't look Fili's way. All the children knew what must have happened because there wasn't a single word of defiance when Fili ordered them to go back to the cave for an afternoon nap.

"You know he's going to kill you once they turn back and he remembers you spanked him right?"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Once again, thanks to all of you wonderful people who are supporting this story, I means a lot to me! Hugs and kisses shall be sent your way *watches as Fili and Kili try to smuggle a dwarfling into each package* Erm... come on guys, it can't be _that_ bad right? *runs away before they can answer*

PS – Oh don't you worry you wonderful people, Thorin **will** most definitely remember, I promise you that!

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The afternoon nap had been, surprisingly, completely uneventful as all of the children seemed to sleep deeply and it took everything they had for Kili and Fili not to fall asleep themselves. They were worn out and it wasn't even a full day since the transformation, Mahal knew how long it would last. Collapsed by the fireplace, Fili was nursing a couple of bruises and scrapes he had gotten while he was being attacked by twelve overexcited little warriors while Kili pondered what they should try and catch for dinner. Rabbits had been for lunch already and since larger game didn't sound like a good idea for the little ones, they settled for fishing. Using the time for making rods, they had made up their minds to make it a game of sorts for the dwarflets and hobbitling. Fishing had been one of the few activities that could make them calm as children and they both prayed it would work with the rest as well.

Deciding that letting the little devils sleep any longer would mean none would be tired in the evening, they began the arduous task of waking them up. Although the children weren't too thrilled with the prospect of a nap before, they were even less amused by the prospect of getting up. Ori kept falling asleep while leaning into Kili, Dori and Nori agreed for once in their lives, if only it wouldn't be to hide under the covers. Bifur, Bofur and Bombur were stumbling around, yawning wide enough to unhinge their jaws and bumping into everything and everybody in their way. Oin kicked Kili none too gently in the family jewels while Gloin held onto his own cover as if his life depended on it. Dwalin and Balin only got up after Fili promised to show them one of his knives under his careful supervision. Bilbo was the only one to get up with a smile on his face, complete opposite to Thorin who scowled darkly but didn't dare oppose so soon after his spanking.

Eventually, the big group went on their way to a nearby pond, Fili went ahead to try and catch at least a few fish before the kids arrived since there was a large chance the children wouldn't be quiet enough not to scare all of them away. Kili was left to finish preparing the dwarflings and leading them to the pond; he had never been forced to count up to twelve so many times before, especially since some of the dwarflets kept running away. Gloin was back to tree climbing during every stop to catch a wayward child hindering their progress further, Bifur kept on getting mesmerized by flowers along the way and decided to gather a few for Fili, after all the blond had been nice to him after the horror of night loo run with the brunet. Thorin and Bilbo were talking to each other in hushed tones reminding Kili far too much of all the mischief he used to get into with his brother and he made a mental note to keep an eye on his uncle as well, talking conspiratorially with a friend meant plotting which lead to trouble, clearly it was family tradition passed along the Durin bloodline.

Ori practically demanded to be carried along the way in Kili's strong arms and since the adult had been so nice to him so far and didn't shun him away like others, Ori began warming up to him and his tongue went a mile a minute. Happily yapping on about everything and anything that came to his mind, the once shy Ori prodded Kili every time he didn't get a satisfactory answer; unlike his brother, Kili hadn't developed the sense of answering at appropriate times without really listening just yet. Bofur and Bombur occupied themselves by singing, making up rhymes and new words if need be and while the songs usually made absolutely no sense except the one about slaying the blond troll earlier that day, at least they were happy. Dwalin and Balin marched on with determination and focus typical for dwarves, driven by the promise of weapons and although he couldn't always see them, Kili heard Nori and Dori loudly enough to know that they were following. The brothers were currently arguing about the direction of their destination with Dori saying it was North while Nori claimed it had to be South.

By the time they arrived, Fili had caught and hidden enough to feed them which meant that the kids could be as loud as they wanted, thank the Valar. Setting Ori down, the Durin brothers distributed all the rods they had created, helped each child with bait and observed the glee with which they plopped down by the bank and held onto the rods. Fili was explaining to Bombur how to properly hold his rod when Bifur walked up to him almost timidly and handed him the flowers he had gathered. Fili smiled at him encouragingly and was about to turn back to Bombur when he felt a strong burning slowly shooting up his hand. Taking a closer look at the flowers he had been handed, he realized that Bifur had managed to gather the sort he had been strongly allergic to all his life and was just about to throw them as far away from himself as possible. However the expectant look on Bifur's face made him stop, bite the inside of his cheek so that he wouldn't yell out in the pain and force out a thank you, after all Bifur meant well. Only once the young dwarfling was sitting by his cousin and holding his own rod courtesy of Kili did Fili dare put the flowers down far from his reach.

Once Dwalin and Balin had had enough of fishing and sat down next to him waiting for the knife presentation, Fili's whole arm was an angry shade of red and alternating between pulsating with pain and itching. Balin found the colouring much more interesting than the actual blade that Dwalin was currently turning around in his little hands and kept on asking Fili if he was injured and would die. No matter the amount of reassuring, Balin seemed to be set on the fact that Fili was dying, Kili almost burst out laughing at the fact that the child was everything but distressed by the idea, if anything he was fascinated and asked Fili if he could go visit his tomb once they gave him a proper burial. Acknowledging the lost battle for what it was, Fili sighed and gave Balin the permission to visit his resting place, a promise that made a large smile spread across the dwarfling's face. Happily, he turned to face his brother and went back to admiring the finely crafted blade, the blond dwarf ready to take it from them at a moment's notice should they so much as nick themselves.

Kili meanwhile kept watch over the other dwarflings from the corner of his eye, even if it wasn't too much work as they did seem to be interested in fishing after all, irregardless of the fact that no one caught anything. Only Thorin and Bilbo sat a little further away, constantly whispering to each other excitedly and occasionally giggling. Kili couldn't see what exactly they were doing but although highly suspicious, they hadn't done anything yet that would demand his attention. Besides, a giggling Thorin was something he wouldn't stop for the world.

An hour later, the kids were staring to get restless again and knowing it was time to pack, Fili got up to start rounding those that weren't fishing anymore but were playing around them. Kili went to do the same, a vital tactical mistake as it left their headquarters with their boots and clothes exposed. Seizing the chance, Thorin and Bilbo put their plan into action and sat nearby with suspiciously innocent faces before the adults returned. Once all the kids were rounded, Kili and Fili sat back down by their things and began putting them on, not looking closely since they had to keep watchful eyes on all the dwarflings. Kili was already up when Fili yelped loudly and began doing a rather hilarious dance as all the ants in his boots and clothes began crawling over him and biting making Kili laugh louder than anybody else as he watched. In his hurry to take the garments off, Fili unexpectedly slammed into Kili, causing the younger to fall into the pond with a loud splash.

The water was shallow enough that he could sit in it without drowning but it did nothing for keeping him from getting thoroughly wet and coughing and spluttering all of the water he had breathed in. As if on cue, all of the dwarflings began laughing and considering it another game, ran after Kili splashing him with more water still, yelling something about a lake monster than needed to be slain. Once Fili got all of the ant infested garments off, his eyes immediately fell onto Thorin. His uncle was the picture of innocence, even with that self satisfied look on his regal face and as much as Fili's fingers burned to give out yet another well deserved spanking, he had no proof that it really had been Thorin. Damn the cunning bugger.

Seeing that his younger brother was doing just as poorly against the overwhelming odds as he had and that although no one drowned yet there weren't any guarantees it would stay that way, Fili began gathering the laughing dwarflets once more. And if he splashed Kili a couple of times when he wouldn't be able to tell it was him, well nobody needed to know. Looking at the now dripping dwarflings as they marched back to the camp with the fish Fili had caught, the brothers shrugged exasperatedly and looked at each other.

"At least we don't have to bathe them now? No need to worry about laundry either."

Fili supposed that his brother was right, there was no way they would have been able to bathe twelve children without causing a flood in the forest. By the time the dwarflings were fed and ready for bed, the adults just collapsed by the cave entrance and tried to get as comfortable as possible with all the injuries they had sustained so far. The night would undoubtedly be long again and each sent a prayer for Gandalf's swift return with a cure. Behind them, Thorin smiled triumphantly and closed his eyes knowing his victory would bring forth good dreams while Oin got up asking for help with his usual bladder problem. Kili would have offered to go but Ori snuggled up to him with big pleading eyes and wouldn't let him go.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N You guys are simply too good to me, so many lovely comments! They mean a lot, every single one of them so once again, thank you everybody who has supported this story in any shape or form! Sadly, we are nearing the end as there will probably only be one more chapter and the epilogue besides this one but I'd rather finish it while I'm still ahead and not once I run completely dry out of ideas. Anyway, enjoy!

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Facing a new day with very little prospect of things getting better, Fili watched his brother carrying an armful of fruit back to the camp. They had learned from their previous mistakes and made sure to have enough food once the little spawns of Morgoth, also known as the rest of their company, woke up. More rabbit stew was to be cooked and Fili was skinning the animals his brother had caught while he kept an ever watchful eye on the sleepyheads. Kili winced in sympathy when he looked at the still reddened arm of his brother, it didn't get much better overnight but at least it didn't get worse. Tiredly, they prepared breakfast and finished the necessary preparations for lunch, all the while wondering how the female dwarves managed to do it, especially those with as many children as Bombur's wife. Eying each other warily as they were cutting the fruit, they just about placed bets on which one of them would be first to collapse from exhaustion. Not that they could afford it.

One by one, the dwarflings woke up to the smell of food, rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from their eyes and sat by the adults demurely. Soon, a circle formed around the Durins as the dwarflets munched on their breakfast happily. Kili was starting to feel paranoid when nothing happened as they ate, it couldn't bode well that all of the children were behaving impeccably although not even his keen eyes could detect any foul plans. There no complaints, no attacks on him or his brother, there wasn't even a fight between Dori and Nori. The uneasiness grew as the children remained mostly subdued even after being fed, rubbing their filled tummies and smiling brighter than the sun. The moment they all thanked them for the meal, utter dread coursed through the brothers, but if there was any devilish plot, the dwarflets didn't reveal it. Instead, they looked at the brothers with unnaturally big eyes and asked if they could braid their hair, in Fili's case also his beard, today.

Relieved that the reason the children were on their best behaviour was actually something so trivial, the brothers agreed happily, not that anybody would have been able to say no to twelve puppy dog eyes turned to the maximum trained on them. Immediately, the little dwarflings split up into three groups. Thorin and Bilbo sat a little ways off because Bilbo still didn't know much about braiding and Thorin didn't want to abandon him, instead teaching his friend patiently about different plaits, the meaning of each particular style and explaining why they were so important to dwarves. Ori ran for Kili immediately while Bifur snuggled up to Fili, Bofur and Bombur following their cousin happily to help braid Fili's hair while Dori and Nori fought over which one they should go to, jumping onto each other's back and pulling their brother's hair in their struggle. Oin and Gloin went to Kili because he was still free while Dwalin and Balin chose to braid Fili's beard.

Soon, the camp was filled with chirpy childish voices debating on the proper plaits for the brothers and the occasional yelp from one of the Durins when their hair got pulled, oftentimes in opposing directions. The children were quite a sight, most of their little pink tongues sticking out of their mouths in concentration although they were nowhere near as interesting as the adults; especially once sticks, leaves and an assortment of flowers was woven into their hair sloppily. The children were barely halfway done when Dwalin looked at Fili and with a serious expression asked him if he could explain something for them. Dread slowly creeping back, Fili nodded as best he could with Bifur's, Bofur's and Bombur's fingers tangled in his mane while Dwalin and Balin held his beard.

"Mister Fili, what does _tossing the dwarf_ mean? Our daddy used it once when talking to his friends about his evening with mommy and me and Balin wondered about it."

Fili did a spit take while Kili shook with a coughing fit that rattled Ori, Oin and Gloin as well. All activity around them stopped, even Thorin and Bilbo paused what they were doing, as all of the children looked at the elder Durin expectantly.

"Erm, well, eh..." One look at Kili let him know that his brother had absolutely no interest in coming to his rescue, may his bow backfire on him one day.

"You see when mommy and daddy love each other very much, they er, they play a very special game that is called tossing the dwarf."

"Oh. Is it fun?"

"Well, daddy certainly enjoys it." Fili gave his brother a piercing look, there was no need for such talk when the kids were around, even if they asked the initial question and probably couldn't understand the hidden meaning of Kili's words.

"Can me and Balin do it too?" Fili had the distinct feeling that he looked pretty scandalized and shook his head emphatically, undoing one of the messy braids which caused Bombur to protest.

"Maybe once you get older, it's a special game that, um, only adults can play." The answer made most of the dwarflings protest loudly, after all they weren't babies anymore, but Fili was firm. Wondering if now would be the right time to ask, Gloin gathered his courage.

"Master Kili, can I ask something as well?"

"Sure laddie."

"Where do babies come from?" Now it was the younger Durin's turn to splutter.

"Em, you see, there are more games that mommy and daddy like to play when they are together, and there is one special game that they play to, to..."

"To honour Mahal, our maker, and if they play the game to his liking, he will bless them and mommy will become with child." Fili would gladly let his brother flap around like a fish out of water but Valar knew what he would say to the kids if he couldn't think of anything so he helped him out.

"How do babies get born?"

No, just no. Their uncle didn't just ask them this question. It was all just one big hallucination because it was actually Fili and Kili that ate something suspicious and they were currently hallucinating back in the camp of the normal world where everything made sense and their uncle didn't ask them about the wonders and horrors of childbirth.

"Er, you see, once Mahal blesses mommy, the baby needs to grow in her tummy until it is big and strong enough to come to this world." Several of the dwarflings made sounds of disgust as they imagined something growing in their own tummies. Thorin was giving Fili a look that clearly said that he knew that part since every idiot knew that and that he expected to get an answer to his actual question soon.

"When the time comes, the women come together, and perform a, um, a ceremony, yes, that men aren't allowed to witness and once it's over, the baby is placed into mommy's arms." Thorin was absolutely unimpressed and his facial expression clearly radiated the words "you have no idea either, do you" which Fili chose to ignore. Thankfully he was saved by Bofur.

"Girls are icky, I don't like them." Many of the other dwarflings agreed, even Bilbo; apparently some things were universal.

"They have cooties!" Dori supplied helpfully and Nori nodded his head enthusiastically, no small feat as he was lying on the ground on his belly with his brother sitting on his back and holding him in a headlock.

"They are stupid!" The irony of Bombur yelling it out wasn't lost on the Durins, especially considering how devoted he was to his wife.

Kili was about to defended the fairer sex from all the children, after all, in recent years he had come to appreciate the women for all they could offer when a loud screech rang through the forest. Jumping to their feet immediately, Fili and Kili cursed the Valar for making their worst nightmares come true. Orcs were close and would probably attack any minute, Mahal only knew how many of them there were, and it was only Kili and Fili to fend them off. Sharing one look that communicated their battle plan within seconds, they went into motion as there was no more time to spare.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Thanks again for all of the love this little story had gotten from all of you amazing people commenting, favouriting, following, it means the world and then some! I promise to reply to all reviews that allow it tomorrow, sadly it's way too late tonight and I wanted to get the chapter posted no matter what. But I gotta say, it was pretty hilarious how some of you commented on what I had planned all along for this (like the special braids and terror dwarflets). You guys and gals rock!

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Herding the frightened children back into the cave and emphasizing that they were to stay together, the brothers armed themselves with as many weapons as they could grab. As planned, Kili remained standing close to the cave entrance as the final line of protection with Fili moving further down to the forest. Both had a bow ready, it was hardly Fili's preferred weapon but he did train with it, if for nothing else than to spend time with his brother when they were younger. The strategy was simple, they would try and shoot as many orcs as possible until they came too close, Fili would then switch to his dual blades and do his best to hold them off while Kili would continue shooting any orcs not held up by his brother. Hopefully, it wouldn't have to come to Kili having to abandon his bow because there were only two situations when he would – no more arrows left or Fili being unable to fight the hordes.

Unwilling to think about all the ways this could go wrong most of which involved a dead brother and twelve children, Kili prepared the first arrow waiting for the orcs to come running at them. He didn't have to wait too long for the first wave to appear between the trees and two orcs fell to the ground dead before they even reached the camp border, swiftly followed by five more. By the time Kili nocked his fifth arrow, Fili had to hastily throw his bow to the side and unsheathe his swords to finish off the three orcs that had made it all the way to him while Kili shot the rest coming from the tree line. Taking a quick stock, the brothers exchanged a meaningful look as Fili picked up the bow again and prepared for the second round. So far so good.

This time, even more orcs came running at them growling and screeching and while many fell with arrows sticking out of their chests, Fili had been forced to fight almost a dozen of them before the wave was defeated. Thankfully for him, the orcs were mildly distracted by the appearance of the two young dwarves facing them, after all the visual of both warriors with flowers sloppily woven into their hair was hilarious enough to make several orcs laugh giving the brothers extra seconds for an attack. But even a distraction could only get them so far and Kili was running dangerously low on arrows as they heard the third wave approaching. Fili had none left anymore as he wanted Kili to have spares so he prepared two of his throwing axes, thankful for having packed so many different weapons for their journey.

Halfway through the third wave, Kili threw his own bow away and joined his brother in the fray, the Durins fighting back to back all the while keeping an eye on the cave entrance in case some orcs slipped by unnoticed. Desperately, they fought against the horde, Kili hacking and slashing with his sword as if possessed, Fili brandishing his blades with deadly accuracy. But they were starting to tire and no matter how good they were, there were too many orcs not to sustain at least some injuries which made it even more difficult. By the time the third wave was defeated, Kili had a gash in his side which was shallow but painful and made it difficult to swing his sword while Fili sported several cuts along his arms and one on his left cheek, none life threatening but all bleeding freely and sapping his energy away.

When they saw the fourth wave, the brothers realized they may not be able to slay all of the orcs running at them and leaning into each other for a second, they gathered all of their remaining strength; at least they would die trying and put up one hell of a fight as befitting Durin's heirs. Abandoning any sense of self preservation, the brothers threw themselves at their enemies viciously, forsaking style for butchery to get as many of the bastards as possible. They came so close, so very close but there were just one too many orcs and Kili had been forced down to the ground onto his belly, his head yanked up harshly to make him watch as his brother was stabbed in his abdomen and forced onto his knees with the pain. Kili yelled out his brother's name in panic, seeing the blade descending upon the dwarf's head to strike a killing blow in slow motion. It never came.

With a hellish roar only a horde of berserk dwarfish children could produce, the dwarflets jumped onto the remaining orcs attacking with the knives that had been left in the cave, rocks they picked up off the ground, their own nails and teeth, anything they could find. Using their number against the surprised enemy, Dori and Nori held an orc for Ori to shoot his slingshot at, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur attacking another one like wild animals, unwilling to let go until the blasted creature fell to the ground with eyes devoid of life. Oin and Gloin kicked the feet from under the third orc, beating his head with rocks until his body stopped twitching.

Dwalin and Balin ran at an orc with weapons ready and while they didn't have much knowledge about the placement of vital organs, the numerous wounds they inflicted had been enough to kill nonetheless. Bilbo served as distraction for another orc by calling his attention to himself giving Thorin an opportunity to slit the tendons in his heels and slash his throat. Kili nodded at Ori as the child shot his captors, swiftly getting off the ground ready to help his brother. He didn't have to, Bifur had made sure that his cousins helped him in rescuing the blond dwarf. Within moments, the battle was over as Kili helped finish off the remaining orcs who were now covering from the rabid dwarflets and hobbitling as if they were Smaug himself.

The formerly youngest Durin couldn't help himself and joined in the children's victory roar, the little ones had faired incredibly well in the fight. Sparing a quick look at his and Fili's saviours, Kili noted that all of them were alive and for the most part unharmed; thank Mahal since neither would have been able to live with the guilt had something happened to the children. Breathing a sigh of relief, Kili ran to his fallen brother, undressing him in a hurry to examine the stab wound. Fili was panting and his skin was covered in a sheen of sweat but he was smiling, they had won and for once the wild nature of dwarfish children had proven useful making him forgive every single dwarflet for all of their mischief. Mentally calculating the position of the wound, Kili almost collapsed in relief, nothing vital had been hit and while blood loss was still a concern, his brother should make it after all.

Sending Oin for the medical supplies and ordering Dwalin to clean the knife he had used in battle and put the tip of the blade into their camp fire, Kili put pressure onto the wound to try and lessen the bleeding. While they waited for the knife to heat up so they could use it for cauterization, he praised all of the dwarflings repeatedly for how well they had done in battle making all of their ancestors proud; their little chests puffed out with pride hampered only by the fact that Fili was obviously hurt. For all of the trouble the children would cause, none of them wanted the adults to be in any real pain or danger.

Oddly enough, it had been Thorin who offered to help Kili clean and bandage the wound after he stopped the bleeding with the white hot knife; once the stars cleared from his vision, Fili gave his uncle a grateful smile accepting the offer of truce even though he knew it probably wouldn't last forever unless he turned back soon, hurt nephew or not. Supporting his older brother, Kili had taken him back to the cave followed by their flock of dwarflings and put him down on the nest Bofur and Bombur had built under Bifur's instructions. Once Fili was down, he took one look at Kili and talked Ori and Balin through tending to his brother's wounds with ointment while he quickly bandaged his own remaining cuts.

Once they were done, every single dwarflet had to present itself for close inspection of possible injuries. The few cuts Dwalin, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Gloin had suffered were treated gently, a kiss placed on little heads of those who sniffled with the pain of having injuries cleaned; as true warriors they might have behaved but they were still small children. There was nothing the brothers could do about the bruises the rest had obtained but they weren't too bad so again, the only medicine needed were warm words of praise and the occasional cuddle which was received with almost surprising gratitude, even from Thorin himself although he wouldn't allow to be held as long as the others. Once everybody had been tended to and reassured, Kili offered to go prepare some food; after all their victory called for a feast making Fili once more surrounded with wide eyed eager children as they waited.

"Mister Fili?"

Yes Bofur?"

"Can we finish braiding your hair now?"

Fili would have laughed until tears streamed down his face and then some more if it wasn't so painful, his brother was currently hollering on the floor overtaken by a chuckling fit not too far away. Of course the only thing the dwarflings worried about after a major orcish skirmish they only survived by some sort of miracle was braiding hair. But who was he to decline such a request to those who saved his life? Plus, he couldn't really do much else to help entertain the children in his current state anyway so grinning at the little hell raisers, he nodded his head.

"But of course laddie, braid away."

The rest of the evening had been spent in a surprisingly calm and happy atmosphere with the bare minimum of troublemaking, a fact both Kili and Fili were thankful for, and exhausted with the day's events, the children fell asleep soon after the brothers started singing them a lullaby. Telling his brother to sleep first to gather as much strength as possible in case of another ambush, no matter how unlikely, Fili took first watch. He knew that he wouldn't be of much use in a battle right now so he could stay awake and observe, and although unwillingly, Kili saw the logic and lay down to rest.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Sad as this is, we have finally arrived at the end of this fic. It had been an absolute blast to write it and once more, immense thanks goes to everybody who has supported me and the story, offering both encouragement and the occasional constructive criticism. Kisses and hugs for all of you wonderful people!

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Early morning when the sun only just peaked over the horizon and long before the children rose, Kili helped his brother go outside the cave for a breath of fresh air and to assess their situation. Not that the air was particularly fresh since the ground was covered with all of the orkish corpses from yesterday, making the brothers wonder how to deal with them. It wouldn't be a good idea to let the dwarflets play around the prone forms but on the other hand, the corpses sent quite a clear message to anybody else that might consider attacking them. Then again, what if another band of orks went by and decided to avenge their fallen brethren? Still, even if they wanted to get rid of the foul smelling bodies, how to do it? Fili would be of little help and there's only so much Kili could do on his own. However, before they could reach a final decision, screams echoed from the cave and ignoring the pain of their own injuries and the fatigue of the last few days, the brothers quickly ran back.

The sight that awaited them once they entered practically pushed tears into their eyes. There on the ground, eleven very much adult looking dwarves and one adult hobbit lay in a heap. They were mostly naked for the adjusted clothes were suddenly too small and tore under the pressure of the transformation and seemed to be unconscious for now. Conscious or not, Fili and Kili felt like singing and promptly hugged each other all the while laughing maniacally. It was like that that Thorin saw them once he fluttered his eyelids open. Years of training had caused that he noticed many things quickly even upon waking up although there was no way for him to put the pieces together.

His nephews appeared to have lost their minds as they jumped and twirled around, everybody else around him was slowly waking up and noticing that they were naked, exchanging confused looks before the two clearly delirious brothers jumped onto Thorin and hugged him tightly. Looking positively alarmed, Thorin turned to Balin for some sort of help but received none. Patting their quivering backs gingerly, Thorin attempted to utter words of comfort. They fell onto deaf ears.

"You're back, you're back! All of you! Back!"

Their babbling confused the others greatly, had they been missing? None of them could remember, as a matter of fact, none could remember anything past the supper Bombur had prepared. The two brothers continued screaming happily, holding onto their uncle and trembling with laughter and tears. Trying to shake Fili into some semblance of coherency, Thorin took a good look at him for the first time. Fili's hair was, well, Thorin didn't know of a word or sign in Westron, Khuzdul or Iglishmek to describe it fittingly. There were flowers and leaves and a twig or two in the positively sloppy braids and pulling one blossom from the blond mane, Thorin was assaulted by a mental image that wouldn't go away. Gasping as the memory ran through his mind, he opened his eyes wide and demanded to know what in Durin's beard had happened.

Words spilling out of the brothers in rapid succession as they talked over each other in their excited haste to explain, Thorin managed to catch the gist of it thanks to years of practice with the two. His company had been turned into children, presumably because of something they ate, all except Fili, Kili and Gandalf. From that point on, his nephews had to take care of them which clearly involved several incidents, least of all which was an orkish skirmish. Sending Dwalin to look outside to confirm and to check up on their ponies, Thorin gave his nephews a closer look and noticed some of their wounds. Immediately, orders had been barked at the rest of the dwarves to dress and to check up on his nephews in case they needed any medical attention.

By the time Fili was flat on his back with Oin inspecting the stab wound, Dwalin returned and confirmed their story, giving Thorin the final count of orkish corpses littering the camp which made the leader's eyes bulge. By all rights, they should be dead by now even if his nephews talked enthusiastically about how the children versions of all the dwarves and Bilbo helped them when things looked the worst, and how, thankfully, stupid the orks were to attack in waves rather than together. Well, at least they were all safe now, until the next unexplainable catastrophe came of course because clearly this group was cursed or something. But even a cursed group gets a respite occasionally and Thorin was happy to hear that the ponies were all accounted for so they didn't have to worry about travelling on foot.

He was about to request a thorough description of everything that had happened since the transformation when they heard the unmistakable voice of Gandalf outside of the cave. Fili and Kili exchanged a look, the bastard had the gall to be singing! Sounding way too cheerful, he yelled for Fili and Kili, exclaiming excitedly that he knew of the cure now, that all that was needed was to wait. The moment he entered the cave, he crashed into the ground under the combined weight of the raging brothers who were screaming obscenities in all of the languages they knew that made even the rowdiest of the other dwarves blush and Thorin wonder where exactly his nephews picked such language up.

It took Gloin, Dwalin and Bifur to tear Fili away while Bofur, Bombur, Oin, Dori and Nori were needed to subdue Kili; Gandalf appeared mildly scared as he looked upon the Durins. He would have put on his usual mask of annoyance at the apparent lack of awe at his discovery, but he had always known that all that was needed was to wait the transformation out and proudly ran away while he still could. He also made sure to return only once he was positive that everybody would be back to their normal age, not that he would admit it out loud of course. If anybody asked, he painstakingly researched the problem and ran back as soon as he found out.

Promising not to attack the wizard again, Fili and Kili had been let go but they still made sure to glare at Gandalf with pure venom in their eyes as they had been led back to the bedrolls to be treated for their injuries. Thorin decided that it wouldn't be wise to ask them to recount all that had taken place right now and occupied himself by ordering the others to take care of the orks outside as he questioned Gandalf on any possible side effects. The wizard reassured him that there shouldn't be any and that the memories of the last few days shall come to everybody within a short time.

A relief as Thorin truly wanted to know what had transpired, especially once he noticed that his nephews passed out on the bedrolls in sheer exhaustion now that everything was back to normal and the adrenaline of the good news and Gandalf's returned faded out. None of the dwarves had been able to wake them up until the following morning, not that they had the heart to try too hard as the fatigue was clearly visible in the youthful faces. Thorin simply decided that they would stay for a day more to give his nephews time to gather their strength and everybody agreed.

Once the company was back on the road, although moving at an unhurried pace since the brothers were rested but hardly healed, everybody's spirits began improving once more and soon, the dwarves found the transformation funny. Gandalf had been right of course, even if some memories only came back as little snippets that hardly made any sense and usually they were completely out of order to make things even more confusing. However, one particular memory assaulted Thorin as he heard one of the dwarves slap another one on the back. _**No**_, surely not... at once he was swept back and could practically feel every single time Fili's hand descended on his behind as his nephew, his _nephew_ scolded him. Halting his pony in its tracks which almost caused several dwarves to crash together, Thorin turned around with murder in his eyes and yelled out.

"FIIIIILLLIIIIIII!"

His voice carried through the forest loudly enough to make birds in an impressive radius fly away in fright and everybody in their company jump, especially the dwarf whose name had been yelled out who only needed one look at his uncle to put two and two together about what might have caused such an outburst. Ordering the others to go ahead **now**, Thorin jumped off his pony and strode over to the blond dwarf. However, before he reached him, another memory assaulted his mind, this one involving Fili's bowl of food and a big bug held in Thorin's chubby fingers. It was shortly followed by a glimpse of him throwing heaps of ants onto Fili's clothes, swiftly followed by the image of a rock leaving his hand as it sailed towards the blond's head. By the time he stopped before Fili, Thorin's eyes were wide with something different than anger, the brothers would even consider it shame.

"Erm, Fili, I..."

Neither nephew dared to speak and break the moment.

"I, um... I'll pretend I don't remember the spanking if you pretend I didn't do any of the other stuff?"

It was blatantly obvious just how painful and disgusting every single word that came out of Thorin's mouth tasted and knowing that declining would be way more hassle than it was worth, Fili nodded his head in agreement. Both turned to Kili, he did stay with his brother intent on protecting him from their uncle to the best of his abilities, who just shrugged his shoulders and grinned at them now that he knew his brother wouldn't get killed. He could live with not being able to retell the stories publicly so long as he could keep the memories, even if he had a feeling their mother would want to hear every single dirty detail to be able to tease her brother endlessly.

When they joined the rest of the company, Thorin was unwilling to even look at his heir but since the youth seemed unharmed and his brother was smiling broadly enough to split his lips, they relaxed. And if all of them remembered the way Fili led his struggling uncle into the forest before wails and smacking could be heard, well, none were stupid enough to say anything to Thorin, even if some of them occasionally shared conspiratory smirks behind their leader's back. Not that anyone had much room to talk though as memories of everything gradually came back to them. For a few days, no one was able to look the Durins fully in their eyes for more than a second, despite all of the reassuring that it was ok, that the events were simply childish mischiefs and if anybody could understand those, it was Kili and Fili.

However, that wasn't the only situation when one of them had trouble facing somebody else. While the other dwarves would tease one another mercilessly about what they had done once the initial shame wore off, Thorin and Bilbo made sure to stay away from each other as much as possible, the instances when they were closer than three dwarves apart far too awkward to deal with. It hadn't exactly been a secret, and probably not even a surprise, that there wasn't much love lost between the two as they journeyed. However, both could clearly remember how well they had clicked as children and how much fun it was to spend time together to conspire. Thorin in particular had been mortified as those memories came back and Bilbo himself was lost in thoughts as he pondered what it could mean for them. Gandalf simply observed with a wide grin on his face all the while making sure there were several dwarves between him and the once again youngest brothers who still glared his way; now that he had heard most of the events following his departure, he didn't feel safe in the least.

It wasn't until another strike of bad luck fell upon the company that things started to improve. At first it had looked grim as the ceiling of the cave they stayed in for the night managed to collapse but once they found out that besides a few bruises nobody was hurt, everybody relaxed. Well, almost everybody. Nori and Dori had been outside when it happened and worked almost frantically to rescue their brother, even if he claimed that he was ok; Oin and Gloin had been with him and made sure the youth didn't get hit by any falling rocks. Bifur, Bofur and Bombur were startled but ok in their own section and putting their mining experience to good work, they began to clear their way out. Balin and Dwalin were trapped together and all but sniggered once they realized who was caved in with whom. Fate would have it that Thorin was trapped with Bilbo while the younger Durins ended up with Gandalf.

Deciding to come to the wizard's aid first, before he was beyond rescue, the dwarves worked relentlessly. They had never found out exactly what had happened to Gandalf but the fact that the wizard looked as uneasy as he did and that the brothers looked smug beyond belief left little to doubt if anything happened at all. Fili and Kili were the sons of Dis and nephews of Thorin and since all the dwarves had bore witness to the wrath of the siblings, none of them would have traded with Gandalf for all of the riches of Erebor. But at least Fili and Kili were no longer glaring at the man, even if Gandalf would have preferred the alternative.

Pretending to work on rescuing the final members of their party, Balin instructed the dwarves to give their leader and burglar some more alone time to talk things out. Once Balin declared the time was up, it took barely a few minutes to get them out; the fact that neither commented on it clearly showing that they did in fact work things out. The words exchanged between them had never been publicly recounted but ever since then, Thorin had been less harsh on the hobbit, as a matter of fact, he was the Thorin equivalent of friendly towards him. For his part, the hobbit seemed less intimidated by the dwarf and would speak up if he believed Thorin was wrong about something earning everybody's respect.

All in all, with wounds healed and new friendships blooming, the company went on their way, emphasising to Ori to write the adventure down with mild, let's say, adjustments.


End file.
